[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
COMBATTING TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL THREATS IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
MAY 23, 2018
__________
Serial No. 115-154
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
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Available: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/, http://docs.house.gov,
or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida BRAD SHERMAN, California
DANA ROHRABACHER, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TED POE, Texas KAREN BASS, California
DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island
MO BROOKS, Alabama AMI BERA, California
PAUL COOK, California LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
RON DeSANTIS, Florida JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
TED S. YOHO, Florida BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois DINA TITUS, Nevada
LEE M. ZELDIN, New York NORMA J. TORRES, California
DANIEL M. DONOVAN, Jr., New York BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER, Illinois
F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr., THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York
Wisconsin ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
ANN WAGNER, Missouri TED LIEU, California
BRIAN J. MAST, Florida
FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida
BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania
THOMAS A. GARRETT, Jr., Virginia
JOHN R. CURTIS, Utah
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
------
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
PAUL COOK, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
MO BROOKS, Alabama NORMA J. TORRES, California
RON DeSANTIS, Florida ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
TED S. YOHO, Florida GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida
C O N T E N T S
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Page
WITNESSES
Mr. Richard Glenn, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S.
Department of State............................................ 8
Ms. Jennifer Fowler, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of
Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, U.S. Department of
Treasury....................................................... 18
Rear Admiral Brian Hendrickson, USN, Director, Network Engagement
Team, U.S. Southern Command.................................... 30
Mr. Raymond Villanueva, Assistant Director for International
Operations, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Department
of Homeland Security........................................... 64
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Paul Cook, a Representative in Congress from the
State of California, and chairman, Subcommittee on the Western
Hemisphere: Prepared statement................................. 4
Mr. Richard Glenn: Prepared statement............................ 11
Ms. Jennifer Fowler: Prepared statement.......................... 21
Rear Admiral Brian Hendrickson, USN: Statement of Admiral Kurt W.
Tidd, Commander, United States Southern Command................ 32
Mr. Raymond Villanueva: Prepared statement....................... 66
APPENDIX
Hearing notice................................................... 90
Hearing minutes.................................................. 91
The Honorable Paul Cook: Statement of Zoe Reiter, Acting
Representative to the U.S. and Senior Project Leader,
Transparency International..................................... 92
Questions submitted for the record............................... 104
COMBATTING TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL THREATS IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:37 p.m., in
room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Paul Cook
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Cook. A quorum being present, the subcommittee will
come to order.
I would like to now recognize myself for an opening
statement.
First of all, I want to apologize to our guests and
speakers here today. Everything has been a little bit backed
up, and, you know, Congress is Congress. So I hope we get some
more members here, but there are multiple committees going. But
I am delighted that you're here.
Our country is facing the worst opioid epidemic in our
history. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, over 62,632 Americans died of drug overdoses last
year, which is almost 22 percent higher than in 2016.
Transnational criminal organizations operating in the
Western Hemisphere countries bear some responsibility for these
deaths given their role in cultivating, producing, and
transporting many of the drugs that kill Americans, such as
heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, and fentanyl.
According to the U.S. Council on Transnational Organized
Crime, we have at least 96 gangs operating in the United States
that are associated with transnational organized crime. Today's
criminal organizations are a new kind of threat. They operate
like international corporations and use legitimate franchise
structures that make combatting them more difficult.
In many instances, they benefit from the protection of
corrupt governments in countries where they operate. These
criminal groups include drug cartels in Mexico; MS-13, 18th
Street gangs in Central America; armed guerilla groups like the
ELN and BACRIM in Colombia and Hezbollah in South America.
While these groups engage in drug trafficking, their
activities are not limited to drugs. They have also found ways
to make substantial profits from human trafficking, the
trafficking of weapons and wildlife, illegal logging, gold
mining, oil taps, extortion and robbery, bulk cash smuggling,
identity and benefit fraud, and money laundering.
Significantly, in both Colombia and Peru, two of the top
cocaine producing countries in the world, illegal gold mining
brings in more revenue to criminal organizations than drugs.
For the past 4 years, it has been the U.S. policy to curb
the flow of illicit drugs from Latin America by dismantling the
criminal groups that control these activities, yet I am not
sure we are succeeding. Cocaine production is at an all-time
high in Colombia, and these criminal groups have increased
their profits from expanding into other illicit activities.
The increasing numbers of these criminal groups operating
in Latin America and the Caribbean and the havoc they produce
for the United States and for our neighbors require that we
take a critical look at our policies and tools to continue
efforts that work and halt efforts that don't show results.
The United States has strong regional partnerships to
address these issues, and we can further deepen our efforts. We
support counter-narcotics and security efforts, share
information, combat money laundering, and support anti-
corruption efforts and stronger judicial systems.
Mexico and the United States cooperate extensively
throughout the Merida Initiative to counter the security
threats from drug cartels.
In Central America, the United States, Guatemala, El
Salvador, and Honduras have worked together through the U.S.
strategy for engagement with Central America in support of the
country's Alliance for Prosperity Plan, known as A4P, and
through the Central America Regional Security Initiative in the
Caribbean.
We are partnered to address criminal threats through the
Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.
The United States also employs border security task forces
to strengthen regional border security capacity, military and
law enforcement tools to monitor and interdict contraband
headed to the United States, and various sanctions regimes such
as those targeting transnational criminal organizations, drug
kingpins, and terrorists.
Yet, with all these efforts, we have seen that the arrests
of drug kingpins and the fragmentation of the large criminal
organizations have led to the emergence of newer, smaller
criminal groups in the region. Illicit activities have
continued and even increased.
And it's not just gangs and criminal groups who are engaged
in illicit activities in the region. Hezbollah, particularly
entrenched in the tri-border area, nets approximately $20
million annually from drug trafficking, pirated goods, human
smuggling, counterfeiting, and money laundering.
This begs the question, just how effective are all these
U.S. lines of effort in addressing transnational crime in the
Americas?
These criminal organizations terrorize local populations
with violence where they operate. They use corrupt government
officials, and they undermine democratic institutions to make a
profit. And their illicit activities drive a parallel black
market economy that impairs countries' economic growth.
In February 2017, President Trump issued Executive Order
13773 to prioritize addressing transnational criminal
activities. Subsequently, the United States Council on
Transnational Organized Crime found that over 60 Federal
organizations are working on countering transnational crime but
no U.S. agency coordinates all these efforts.
With this setup, we run the risk of uncoordinated U.S.
efforts and potential laws and policies that have not kept up
with the ever-evolving criminal groups. Likewise, how can the
U.S. coordinate with regional partners effectively if we,
ourselves, lack a unified approach to the challenges?
I believe all of your agencies are doing critically
important work to advance U.S. national interests, but in this
congressional oversight hearing, I want to examine if there are
areas for improvement. Do your agencies possess the authorities
and resources that you need to disrupt and dismantle
transnational criminal organizations in the Western Hemisphere?
Where are the gaps in our current approach?
In conclusion, I want to ensure that the U.S. law,
policies, and programs are keeping up with the changing
technology, shifting regional dynamics, and ever-adapting
criminal organizations so we are the most effective in our
approach and in our cooperation with our regional partners.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on these
matters.
And, with that, I want to turn to my good friend, the
ranking member, for his opening remarks.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Cook follows:]
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Mr. Sires. Good afternoon, everyone.
And thank you to our witnesses for appearing here today.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for hosting this important and
timely hearing.
We are here to discuss the threat of transnational criminal
organizations in the hemisphere and hear from the
administration on how they are assessing and combatting these
criminal threats.
Transnational criminal organizations are one of the largest
challenges in bringing security, peace, and prosperity to the
Western Hemisphere. They represent a real and ongoing threat to
both domestic and regional security by engaging in a diverse
range of nefarious activities, such as extortion, robbery,
illegal mining, and the international trafficking of people,
drugs, and other commodities.
Furthermore, the continued success and profitability of
these illicit ventures creates a flourishing prevalence of
violent crimes in these areas as groups compete for control of
territory and revenue streams. These criminal organizations
present one of the greatest risks to stability in the Western
Hemisphere and should undoubtedly be a top priority for U.S.
foreign policy.
Combatting these criminal organizations requires strong
cooperation with our allies that focuses not just on security
but also economic development and opportunity. We must counter
the root causes of instability that leave young people
vulnerable to joining transnational criminal organizations.
These root causes create the conditions that allow illicit
networks to flourish.
Unfortunately, despite President Trump's rhetoric on drug
trafficking and being tough on crime, he continues to make
missteps that embolden these organizations. By proposing
draconian cuts to the foreign assistance in which we choke off
our Embassies and civil society from doing necessary work on
the ground to keep communities safe, the President makes it
more challenging for the United States to foster alliances and
build trust both with our neighboring governments and the
people living in them needed to combat these threats.
I am eager to hear from the administration on how the
President's actions impact the United States' ability to combat
transnational criminal threats and what more our agencies and
allies need to help keep not just Americans but people living
throughout the hemisphere safe.
Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Cook. Thank you very much.
Before I recognize you to provide your testimony, I am
going to explain the lighting system in front of you.
Oh, you snuck in on me.
I will forgo the lighting instructions and recognize Mrs.
Torres from California.
Mrs. Torres. Thank you, Chairman Cook and Ranking Member
Sires, for holding this very important hearing. And thank you
for allowing me the time for an opening statement.
Thank you so much to our witnesses who have taken the time
to be with us today.
Transnational organized crime is a threat in stability, not
only to our security here in the U.S. but also to our allies
and throughout the hemisphere. It has taken a toll on the
people all throughout the hemisphere, from the coca fields of
Colombia to the streets in my hometown of Pomona, California.
This is an issue that we can't avoid, but it is not an easy
issue to deal with either.
The reality is that our lax gun laws are arming the cartels
in Mexico. Criminals from across the region are using our
financial system to launder their ill-gotten funds. In too many
countries in this region, from Venezuela to Guatemala and
Honduras, the bad guys aren't just in the streets; too often,
the bad guys are also in their legislatures, in their police
forces, and even in their militaries.
So I look forward to your testimony today and to discussing
and finding ways that we can truly develop a comprehensive
response to address this very urgent problem in our
communities.
And I yield back.
Mr. Cook. Thank you, Mrs. Torres.
Before I recognize you to provide your testimony, I am
going to explain the lighting system in front of you. This is
so I remember all these lights myself.
You will each have 5 minutes to present your oral
statement. When you begin, the light will turn green. When you
have 1 minute left, the light will turn yellow. When your time
has expired, the light will turn red, unless the lights are
out. I ask that you conclude your testimony once the red light
comes on. You might hear, because I am such a nice guy, a
gentle rap, rap, rap, like the raven on the window ledge.
And after our witnesses testify, members will have 5
minutes to ask questions. We might have multiple rounds here
and could extend that, because this is a great committee. I
feel bad. I know we have other ones going on, but some of the
things that we want to cover today are really, really
important.
So our first witness to testify will be Mr. Richard Glenn,
the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs at the U.S.
Department of State. He previously served as the office
director for Western Hemisphere programs. Mr. Glenn has served
as a Foreign Service officer in Ecuador, South Africa, Czech
Republic, Argentina, and Mexico.
So I am going to start off right now, and then I will
introduce our second witness. And we are delighted to have you
here. So, Mr. Glenn.
STATEMENT OF MR. RICHARD GLENN, ACTING DEPUTY ASSISTANT
SECRETARY, BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW
ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Mr. Glenn. Chairman Cook, Ranking Member Sires,
Congresswoman Torres, members of the subcommittee, thank you
for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss
transnational crime in the Western Hemisphere.
Some of the greatest threats to U.S. national security
today are ones that emanate from this hemisphere. And as you
have already identified, the opioid and heroin crisis, gang
violence, and the illegal smuggling of the drugs, people, and
other illicit products across our borders threaten U.S.
security and that of our neighbors throughout Latin America and
the Caribbean.
The Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics
and Law Enforcement Affairs, INL, the bureau which I represent,
leads our department's efforts to combat crime overseas. And
since INL got its start nearly 40 years ago, criminal activity
today is more complex, more diversified, and more difficult to
understand and attack than ever before. Criminal groups are
nimble, and they thrive on weak institutions. This fluidity
makes successfully attacking them difficult.
From years of experience, we have learned that partnership
and comprehensive solutions are key. Through bilateral and
regional foreign assistance programs in Mexico, Central
America, the Caribbean, and South America, INL provides
targeted law enforcement and counter-narcotics assistance,
supporting efforts to increase the capacity of criminal justice
sectors to prosecute and convict criminals, and advocating for
extensive anticorruption efforts.
In support of the President's executive order on
transnational organized crime, we are working closely with our
U.S. interagency partners to deliver assistance and apply tools
such as financial sanctions and visa sanctions to not only
bring criminals to justice but to also deter criminal behavior.
Our efforts are demonstrating results. Through coordinated
regional law enforcement operations in Central America,
supported by INL and our DOJ partners, thousands of gang
members have been taken off the streets. Our model police
precincts and place-based strategy approach to develop
strategically balanced and integrated criminal justice sector
projects in high-crime communities throughout Central America
has led to decreased homicide rates in all three countries. In
Colombia and Mexico, our assistance has made possible targeted
law enforcement operations against key, high-value-target
traffickers.
This is promising news, but we have a lot of work ahead of
us. We are in this for the long game.
Combatting transnational crime requires coordination that
is often difficult enough to achieve among law enforcement
entities within one country, let alone law enforcement entities
among multiple countries. Trust is essential.
And INL, together with the U.S. interagency, is working to
establish and enhance relationships among counterparts in the
region, including three regional trainings to be more effective
and efficient at sharing information and best practices.
In the Northern Triangle of Central America, INL supports
the development of the regional criminal gang intelligence
platform to enable real-time information-sharing for
transnational anti-gang units to track gang-related activities,
migration, human smuggling, and illicit trafficking.
In Colombia, INL partners with the Colombia National Police
to deploy its officers to key transit zone countries to build
counter-narcotics and law enforcement capacity as well as
relationships and opportunities to share information.
Advancing further coordination with and between our
partners throughout the hemisphere is essential to successfully
dismantling transnational crime, and INL is consistently
looking for ways to leverage our partnerships.
A secure hemisphere where citizens are protected under the
rule of law and where criminal groups do not have the ability
to operate depends upon having strong and willing partners who
believe in the importance of institutions accountable to the
people and stand ready to make difficult and often unpopular
decisions that demonstrate a sustained commitment to fight
impunity.
We see this in Honduras, where the police have undergone an
extensive and at times very unpopular purge that has led to the
termination of over 3,000 law enforcement officers. This has
been challenging. It has been time-consuming and messy, with a
restructuring of the police, but they are moving forward and
getting better. This example underscores the importance of
political will in effecting change. Yet much more needs to be
done.
Chairman Cook, Ranking Member Sires, the threats posed by
transnational crime in this hemisphere are immense. We have
been engaged in the hemisphere for a very long time, and we are
far from declaring success. A sustained commitment to our
partners in the region is critical to protecting our homeland,
and INL is committed to this effort.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you
today, and I look forward to your questions later on.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Glenn follows:]
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Mr. Cook. Thank you very much.
Our second witness to testify is Ms. Jennifer Fowler, the
Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Terrorist Financing
and Financial Crimes at the U.S. Department of Treasury. She
also serves as the vice president of the Financial Action Task
Force, FATF.
Prior to this, Ms. Fowler served as the Treasury's Chief of
Staff and Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Terrorism
and Financial Intelligence, as Assistant Director in the Office
of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, and in the Office
of Foreign Assets Control.
She was also a Peace Corps volunteer and journalist, and we
are delighted to have her here.
Ms. Fowler.
STATEMENT OF MS. JENNIFER FOWLER, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY,
OFFICE OF TERRORIST FINANCING AND FINANCIAL CRIMES, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY
Ms. Fowler. Chairman Cook, Ranking Member Sires, and
distinguished members of the subcommittee, I am honored to
discuss Treasury's efforts to counter the illicit financial
activities of transnational criminal organizations in the
Western Hemisphere. It is the mission of Treasury's Office of
Terrorism and Financial Intelligence to disrupt these networks
in coordination with other U.S. Government agencies and
international partners.
Transnational criminal organizations pose a threat to the
prosperity and security of the United States and our regional
allies. Our most recent National Money Laundering Risk
Assessment, published in 2015, estimates that around $64
billion is generated annually from U.S. sale of drugs, with
Mexico being the primary supplier for some drugs and a transit
zone for others and Colombia the leading provider of cocaine in
United States.
Based on our engagement with law enforcement, we believe
this figure has increased in recent years. Drug trafficking
organizations launder and place drug proceeds into the United
States and regional financial systems through the movement of
bulk cash, the structuring of deposits, and trade-based money
laundering schemes.
Together with our Latin American partners, we are
strengthening anti-money-laundering and countering the
financing of terrorism regimes across the region. In Mexico,
Treasury co-leads a working group to improve information-
sharing between our governments and private sectors on illicit
finance and contributes to operational matters by exchanging
lead information on specific targets.
In addition, Treasury chairs a dialogue with U.S. and
Central American authorities and the private sector that is
working to improve our understanding of the threat posed to
regional financial systems by gangs, including MS-13.
Colombia is also a key partner. For more than 15 years, we
have worked with Colombian authorities against the assets of
drug cartels and guerilla and paramilitary organizations,
targeting more than 2,000 individuals and companies related to
these organizations.
Treasury's engagement with regional financial authorities
has been a cornerstone of the administration's strategy on
Venezuela. Secretary Mnuchin has hosted three meetings of
finance ministers to discuss the crisis in Venezuela and to
strengthen information-sharing on corrupt Venezuelan officials
and their support networks.
In response to the threat posed by terrorist financing in
the tri-border area, we are developing a regional illicit
finance risk assessment with authorities in Argentina,
Paraguay, and Brazil, which will improve our ability to develop
appropriate measures to address those risks in coordination
with those regional authorities.
Our cooperation to tackle transnational criminal
organizations outside of our borders helps to reduce the threat
they pose to our own financial system. Nonetheless, the size
and centrality of our financial system leaves us exposed to
money laundering. Treasury works to ensure that the United
States maintains a strong anti-money-laundering and countering-
the-financing-of-terrorism regime.
In 2016, the Financial Action Task Force reviewed our
regime. FATF gave the United States the highest possible
ratings for asset forfeiture and noted our effectiveness in
prosecution and the implementation of targeted financial
sanctions.
Although we faired well, we are continually working to
strengthen our anti-money-laundering and countering-the-
financing-of-terrorism regime. At present, Treasury is
preparing a national counter-illicit-finance strategy in
response to the Countering America's Adversaries Through
Sanctions Act. This strategy updates our 2015 National Money
Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment and will
include our first-ever proliferation financing assessment.
In our efforts to strengthen our own system, we will focus
on the misuse of legal entities in real estate. Treasury's
Customer Due Diligence Rule took effect on May 11, requiring
financial institutions to identify and verify the beneficial
owners of companies opening new accounts and bolstering the
ability of law enforcement to investigate the misuse of legal
entities.
We are also evaluating illicit finance typologies
associated with property transactions. And Treasury's Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network, FinCEN, has released advisories on
the abuse of the real estate sector.
In addition to these efforts, Treasury uses its unique
authorities, including sanctions authorities and authorities
under the USA PATRIOT Act, to target individuals and support
networks responsible for financial crimes. For example, OFAC
uses the Kingpin Act and TCO authority to target dangerous
criminal organizations.
In 2012, OFAC sanctioned MS-13 as a significant TCO under
Executive Order 13581. Since January 2017, OFAC's Kingpin
actions have designated a total of 174 individuals and
entities. During that time, OFAC also designated more than 50
Venezuelan Government officials and their associates, including
last Friday's designation of Venezuelan politician Diosdado
Cabello. As a result of these designations, hundreds of
millions in assets have been blocked.
Treasury has also issued targeted economic measures,
including a new executive order signed by the President this
week restricting the Maduro regime's ability to liquidate state
assets at fire sale prices at the expense of the Venezuelan
people.
TCOs represent a threat to U.S. interests at home and
throughout the Western Hemisphere, and we will continue to work
to protect the U.S. and global financial systems against TCO
abuse.
I look forward to your questions. Thank you for asking me
to testify today.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Fowler follows:]
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Mr. Cook. Thank you very much.
Next will be Rear Admiral Brian Hendrickson, Director of
the Network Engagement Team at USSOUTHCOM, Southern Command.
Rear Admiral Hendrickson has served in numerous naval
special warfare assignments and has served as Assistant to the
Vice Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, Military
Deputy at the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, and Deputy
Commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command.
Admiral? Thank you.
STATEMENT OF REAR ADMIRAL BRIAN HENDRICKSON, USN, DIRECTOR,
NETWORK ENGAGEMENT TEAM, U.S. SOUTHERN COMMAND
Admiral Hendrickson. Chairman Cook, Ranking Member Sires,
members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to
appear before you today.
For my written statement, I have submitted the SOUTHCOM
Commander's annual posture statement to the Senate Armed
Services Committee, which covers a broad range of both
challenges and opportunities in the Western Hemisphere.
First, I will focus on the challenges.
Every day, our southern approaches are under assault by
criminal networks whose smuggling operations reach across Latin
America and the Caribbean and deep into the United States.
These groups exploit every land, sea, and air border to traffic
drugs, people, weapons, and other illicit goods throughout the
Western Hemisphere and beyond.
Their corrosive activities pose a threat to the stability
of our partners and to our national security. It is no
coincidence that some of the most violent places on this planet
are located right here in our hemisphere. They are home to the
criminal networks like MS-13, the Sinaloa Cartel, and others.
While our partners bear the brunt of this violence, these
networks and many others have a significant footprint in the
United States.
The region is also home to networks that specialize in
smuggling illegal immigrants from places like Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq--all places where terrorist
organizations like Al Shabaab, ISIS, al-Qaeda, and their
affiliates operate.
Now, migrant smuggling is not uncommon. What makes these
networks different is the type of people who enlist their
services to attempt to enter the U.S. homeland undetected. Some
of these people have ties to terrorism, and some have
intentions to conduct attacks in the homeland. It is unclear if
these attack plans are at the explicit direction of terrorist
organizations or self-inspired, but that intent and the
regional vulnerabilities these networks exploit is deeply
concerning.
Stopping these threat networks is truly a team network. It
involves the FBI, HSI, the Departments of Defense and State,
and partners like Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, and
many others.
In addition to our collective U.S. Governmental efforts to
target criminal networks, U.S. Southern Command, INL, DHS,
Treasury, and others also build the capacity of vetted police
and military units throughout the region. We provide real-world
training in countering illicit financial flows, the employment
of biometrics, intelligence fusion, open-source analysis,
border security, and maritime interdiction. The end result is
capable partners who can do more with us and with each other in
a layered defense to stop threats against our homeland and our
shared home.
I will close with this observation. You may be wondering
why a guy in a military uniform is talking about something that
seems to be primarily a law enforcement mission. My colleagues
here at the table obviously all play a leading role in this
effort, but DOD supports them by providing unique capabilities
like intelligence fusion and training.
Our effort is multiagency because the problem is
multidimensional. In other words, it takes a network to defeat
a network. This is a governance problem, a public health and
safety problem, and, above all, a national security problem,
because, as our awareness and understanding grows, we learn
that more and more of these networks are being leveraged by
those who seek to do us harm and those who seek to do our
partners harm.
I look forward to discussing these and other issues with
you and my colleagues. Thank you.
[The statement of Admiral Tidd, submitted by Admiral
Hendrickson, follows:]
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Mr. Cook. Thank you, Admiral.
By the way, I was at the Army's dive school, scuba school
down there at Key West. They were saying it is better than the
Navy's. I just thought I would throw that out there. And they
also made some comment about some football game last year.
Being a Marine, I had to stay neutral on that. I didn't get
involved. But do you want to comment on that at all?
Admiral Hendrickson. Not for the record, Chairman.
Mr. Cook. Thank you very much. Sorry to stir things up
here.
Our last witness to testify will be Mr. Raymond Villanueva,
the--did I get that right?
Mr. Villanueva. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cook [continuing]. The Assistant Director for
International Operations of Homeland Security Investigations at
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Since joining HSI, he has served in numerous leadership
positions. Prior to this, the gentleman served as a police
officer in Puerto Rico.
So you are now recognized, and thank you for being with us.
STATEMENT OF MR. RAYMOND VILLANUEVA, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR
INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS, HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS,
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Mr. Villanueva. Chairman Cook, Ranking Member Sires, and
distinguished members, thank you for the opportunity to appear
before you today to discuss U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations' efforts to
investigate, disrupt, and dismantle transnational criminal
organizations, to include violent gangs, in the Western
Hemisphere.
During the last two decades, transnational organized crime
has expanded dramatically, which poses a significant threat to
national security. HSI takes this threat seriously and targets
transnational criminal organizations at every critical location
in the cycle by utilizing a layered approach--that is,
internationally by pushing our borders out in cooperation with
foreign counterparts; our Nation's physical border, in
coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where the
transportation cells attempt to exploit America's legitimate
infrastructure; and in cities throughout the United States
where criminal organizations earn substantial profits after
illegal activities.
As of May 2018, HSI maintains more than 130 open
investigations targeting MS-13 members and their criminal
organizations globally by working with our law enforcement
partners, including those in Guatemala, Honduras, and El
Salvador. Without information-sharing and partnering with our
Federal, State, local, and foreign law enforcement partners,
HSI would not be nearly as successful at battling MS-13 and
other violent gangs.
In fiscal year 2018, HSI, with the support of the
Department of State's International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement, initiated Operation Gatehouse, which addresses the
MS-13 threat in partnership with police officers from El
Salvador's civil national police embedded with our gang task
forces in the United States.
The Salvadoran officers work alongside HSI special agents
in an advisory role, sharing their expertise on MS-13 and
assisting in identifying gang membership and leadership in El
Salvador that might be directing illegal activity in the United
States. We hope to expand this program to additional task
forces throughout the United States in fiscal year 2019.
While combatting TCOs domestically, thus protecting
Americans from harm, violence, and TCO exploitation, HSI
continues to push the borders out by capitalizing on our
international partnerships with foreign law enforcement
officials. This is accomplished by our attache network located
in 67 offices around the world.
Our attaches leverage several key international
partnerships, to include the Transnational Criminal
Investigative Units and Operation Citadel, to identify
potential bad actors along the illicit pathways, while
exploiting available information, with the goal of identifying,
disrupting, and dismantling unknown gang cliques posing a
threat to the United States.
HSI also leverages its information-sharing capabilities
using several key initiatives, some of which I would like to
highlight briefly: The Visa Security Program, in which HSI
partners with CBP and the Department of State Consular Affairs
by deploying trained special agents to high-risk visa activity
posts to identify and investigate potential terrorists and
criminal threats before they reach the United States.
The Trade Transparency Units are designed to aggressively
target criminal organizations and individuals involved in
trade-based money laundering but also those preparing
contraband smuggling and customs fraud. All TTU foreign
partners recognize the value of information-sharing, which
permits the comparison of international trade data to target
illicit activity.
And last but not least, the Biometric Identification
Transnational Migration Alert Program, also known as BITMAP,
which helps provide infrastructure and capability for host
governments to collect biometric data on individuals they
encounter. This information is shared with U.S. law enforcement
and the intelligence community. We, including CBP National
Targeting Center, share relevant law enforcement information
with these countries. Through this process, HSI, CBP, and DOD
are able to track movement toward the United States, take joint
action with partner nations along the route, and deter human
smuggling through South and Central America. BITMAP today is
deployed to 15 countries.
These operational endeavors could not have been successful
without the cooperation of our Federal, State, local, and
foreign government law enforcement partners. HSI will continue
to give high priority and devote sufficient resources to
disrupting and dismantling TCOs.
Thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you
today and for your continued support of ICE's law enforcement
mission, and I am looking forward to answering your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Villanueva follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
----------
Mr. Cook. Thank you, sir.
Now I will yield myself 5 minutes to ask questions.
And I want to make a comment. We had the Secretary of State
here this morning. It was a long hearing, and there were a lot
of issues that were covered. I, myself, just to let you know, I
made the comment that I knew he had a lot on his plate with
what was going on and everything. I said that I had been
getting the feeling, talking to many of our colleagues and
friends in the Western Hemisphere, in Latin America, that in
many ways that region had been forgotten. And all these things
have been on the news and everything else, and maybe they have
been overshadowed, with the meeting in North Korea and ISIS and
Afghanistan, the Ukraine. I can go on and on and on.
The point I tried to make is that there are a lot of
countries there--I think I said there were going to be 13
elections this year. There are a lot of things going on, and
you have two countries that have been meddling big-time. One
was China, which has thrown a lot of money around, and the
other is Iran, as well as the drug cartels.
And I think there is--at least when we were just down there
for our conference, you remember the collective takeaway--and
correct me if I am wrong when you speak--they were, ``Hey,
United States, you better wake up to what your friends there
are talking about.'' And it is like, yeah, we know things are
going on, but we have our own problems here, and they are
getting worse and worse and worse.
So what you are saying about this collective effort, I
couldn't agree with you more. But right now I think they have a
point, a lot of these countries. And a lot of it is that,
whether it is true or not, they have the attitude that the
United States has forgotten them to a certain extent, that
something is more important.
So basically my question to the panel is, can you comment
on that and whether you have any assured solutions to say that
and--it is a very difficult problem. Maybe I am wrong.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Glenn. Excellent question. I think that there are a few
examples of, I think, very important, high-level engagement
that has given both signals within the administration and, I
would hope, outward signals that there definitely is a focus on
South America, Central America, and Mexico and the Caribbean as
well.
The Vice President, last year, in 2017, in June, led the
U.S. delegation in Miami of a conference between the Central
American countries, focused mostly on the Northern Triangle,
with Colombia and Mexico present as well. I don't know how
there could be a clearer signal given than the Vice President
being present and declaring a continued focus and emphasis on
Latin America, specifically, in that instance, on the Northern
Triangle of Central America.
The funding levels have supported that emphasis. I think
also the executive order that was issued early on in the
administration also indicates, at least to us here at the
table--gives us a clear signal of what we are supposed to be
doing and what we are supposed to be focusing on.
Mr. Cook. Well, part of it--and I will use the examples of
countries like Panama, the Dominican Republic, that have
changed their--you know, they used to recognize Taiwan, now
they are recognizing Beijing. And the last day that we were
there, we met with a large group of Caribbean countries, and
they were very vocal about it. They were angry. And they made
it very, very clear that is part of the reason that they have
been taking to Venezuela. And I won't go into the situation--I
think you know it--about the stipend or how they are going to
help them with their buying oil down there.
And each one of those countries, even the small ones, have
one vote in the OAS, same as the United States. And it was kind
of like they were holding school on us, or at least me. And
they were, at the end, polite about it because we were
listening to them, but it is something that I heard loud and
clear.
Anyone else have any comments on that? Or am I way off
base?
Ms. Fowler?
Ms. Fowler. Well, I would add to what my colleague said, I
mean, Secretary Mnuchin has been, I think, really leading an
effort within the Lima Group with the finance ministers,
hosting several meetings, working with finance ministers in
that group to address the crisis in Venezuela.
And I think that group has demonstrated a desire to really
be unified. They have made very important commitments. And it
is an opportunity for us to really deepen a lot of the
coordination we do with those countries on TCO issues at that
level, working really operationally to develop solutions and
strategies.
So I think that senior-level commitment from the Treasury
Department is there.
Mr. Cook. Well, thank you.
By the way, I do want to mention, that was a weekend
conference we went down. It was real short. I think it was 21
countries. And we had nine members, which I was delighted that
we had such a large showing to go down there. And it was like
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
And I actually want to give kudos to my colleagues. I
thought we kind of agreed. We split up what our agenda was
with--and the staff did a fantastic job. And I thought it was
great if we could do it.
I am going to turn it over, and then I will come back. We
have a lot of people.
The only comment I am going to make--and it shows my age--
is that money is a big factor down there because of drugs,
gold, logging, you name it, and everything else. And it always
goes back to the old bank robber who was in jail before any of
you were born, and they used to ask--his name was Willie
Sutton. And they asked Willie Sutton, why do you rob banks? And
his classic retort: That is where the money is.
And there is a lot of money, as some of the testimony
reflects, that is being made in a lot of different ways. And
unless we get our act together collectively, it is going to get
worse and worse before it gets better, I am afraid.
So I am going to stop and turn it over to our ranking
member.
Mr. Sires. Thank you, Chairman.
And thank you again for being here.
You know, I have been in this committee now for 12 years,
and I have been saying all along that we just don't focus
enough on the Western Hemisphere. And, unfortunately, things
have to come to a crisis before we really focus.
I understand that there are a lot of issues throughout the
world, that we have been sort of sidetracked. But we cannot--we
cannot--continue to overlook these countries that are right in
our backyard.
It has gotten to a crisis. You know, you have a situation
in Venezuela where you have now people going all over South
America, Central America from Venezuela because the situations
are bad. Venezuela basically has become a satellite of the
Cuban Government. There are 30,000
Cubans profiting off Maduro. You have in Nicaragua the
situation in Nicaragua now.
So I don't think that it is helpful that we are going to be
cutting the State Department's budget. You know, we have a
situation now where we are cutting 31 percent of the United
States assistance to Colombia. You know, we have been working
with Colombia for a long time. Cutting 31 percent I don't think
is helpful.
The rhetoric coming out of the administration is not
helpful at all. We have to work with these countries. And,
unfortunately, calling people names and doing all these things
is not going to endear these countries to work with us.
I remember, when I first was on the committee, we were
deporting people to some of these countries, and we weren't
even telling those countries who we were deporting--in other
words, their records. Now it has changed. I understand now that
when we deport some of these gang members there is a whole file
that goes with them. But I remember talking to the Ambassador
here when I was on this committee 10 years ago and he said that
wasn't done.
Obviously, gangs are a real, real problem, not just in the
Western Hemisphere but here also. I remember, when I was a
mayor, having to deal with gangs, because they were recruiting
in the high schools, and we had to do a strong effort. The MS-
13 and the other gangs were recruiting right in the high
school. We had a real effort that we made successfully through
the prosecutor's office.
So all these things just keep coming up. And we need to
focus our attention on what to do in those countries so we can
help them deal with this issue. And, unfortunately, we just
don't seem to focus.
You know, I asked the Secretary of State this morning
something that I feel very concerned with. You have the
Ayatollah promoting this revolution throughout the world. In
the Western Hemisphere, you never had cultural centers. So the
Ayatollah seems to be funding these cultural centers now
throughout all these countries. There are over 100 of them. We
have to focus on that, because they are not there to promote
culture. I am sorry. I don't agree with that.
You have Nicaragua. Russia wants to build a base in
Nicaragua, with all this buying tanks and so forth.
I mean, when we overlook some of these areas that are in
our backyard, somebody fills the gap. I know China is doling
out money all over the place.
I met with one of the presidents--I go to Colombia a lot
because I work with some people there raising money for an
orphanage. And I met with the president of one of the colleges.
He told me that the second most studied language is Colombia
today is Mandarin. Obviously, English is the first one, but, I
mean, that is pretty high up there. You talk to the President
of Peru, they tell you the same thing.
So I don't know how to stress to the administration how
important it is that we refocus our attention on what is going
on in the southern part of the hemisphere.
I think last year we went--it was SOUTHCOM. They showed us
how many flights are coming out of Venezuela that are heading
for the European Union. It was incredible. They showed us the
flights. Most of the drugs coming out of Venezuela goes to the
European Union. But, still, I mean, this is what props this
country.
And then you have all these people leaving Venezuela and
creating nothing but problems throughout the other countries. I
was talking to the Brazilian Assistant Ambassador. He told me
that in Brazil, on the border with Venezuela, there was a small
town with about maybe 8,000 people. It swelled up to about
50,000. Colombia is dealing with it as best as they can, but,
you know, the exodus out of Venezuela is creating nothing but
problems. And we have to find a way to continue to put pressure
and try to make some changes in Venezuela.
So, I mean, I guess I don't have a question, but I just
have to vent. I apologize.
And I want to thank the chairman for holding this hearing.
Thank you.
Mr. Cook. Thank you. Don't apologize. I was venting too.
We will probably have a second round of questions, but I
wanted to get Mr. Brooks in from Alabama.
Sir, you are recognized.
Mr. Brooks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
My questions are directed at Mr. Glenn, but if anyone else
has anything to add, please feel free to do so.
How much are funds from illicit activities and ties to
transnational criminal groups contributing to the survival of
the Maduro regime in Venezuela?
Mr. Glenn. I actually don't have a number, but I would
imagine that there is a significant portion of illicit activity
that contributes to their survival.
Mr. Brooks. What can the United States do to increase our
efforts with regional partners to cut off this illicit
financing?
Mr. Glenn. I think maybe that might be best answered by my
colleague from Treasury.
Ms. Fowler. Congressman, what we are doing, as I mentioned
earlier, is a very significant effort in the Lima Group, which
includes all of the neighboring countries, really to make sure
that we are pulling together all of the appropriate
investigative authorities.
Our goal, of course, is to make sure that members of the
Maduro regime don't have access to the financial system to
place their corrupt proceeds, to move them throughout the
international financial system.
So I think those partnerships are strong. We have a very
robust, ongoing dialogue at very senior levels but also at the
technical level to really make sure that those countries are
taking the right steps. And we have seen many of them do that.
Mr. Brooks. Anyone else want to add anything to those
answers?
I will go to my next one then.
How have transnational criminal organizations used the
Venezuelan humanitarian crisis and subsequent migration
throughout the region to their advantage?
Mr. Glenn. I think in any situation where you have a large
number of people moving across borders and very porous borders,
there is a large susceptibility to trafficking of many sorts,
whether it be human, wildlife, and, of course, narcotics. So
there is an increased risk because of that movement.
Mr. Brooks. And the followup question: How can the United
States help other countries in the region prevent the crisis
from benefiting international criminal organizations?
Mr. Glenn. I think our continued assistance to Colombia,
especially Colombia, since it neighbors Venezuela, is crucial.
The assistance that we specifically give to Colombia
focuses mostly on coca cultivation and cocaine production and
giving the ability, and greater ability, to the Colombian
National Police and the Colombian military to eradicate coca
and to interdict those drugs that are moving across borders and
coming out of Colombia, whether it be to Europe or, more
importantly, to the United States.
Mr. Brooks. Mr. Glenn, I am going right back to you with
some more.
Have you seen any evidence of the Maduro regime in
Venezuela supporting Colombia's criminal groups--FARC
dissidents, ELN, BACRIM, or others?
Mr. Glenn. I think it is well-known that drug trafficking
organizations and radical groups like the ELN do take refuge in
Venezuela. Whether or not that is this state-sponsored or -
encouraged, I wouldn't be able to comment on that.
Mr. Brooks. Anyone else want to try any of those questions?
If not, I can go to another one.
All right.
This week, the Trump administration announced new sanctions
on Venezuela, which follow the sanction of over 70 Venezuelan-
related persons.
What is the process by which the Treasury Department
coordinates with other agencies, specifically the State
Department, in designating individuals or entities under
sanctions programs?
Ms. Fowler?
Ms. Fowler. Sure, Congressman. I mean, we have a very
robust coordination process, really, with the interagency, led
by the National Security Council. And we have a very active
group that is considering, sort of, all of our potential
authorities and tools and how best to bring them to bear on the
Venezuela crisis.
So the designations, the discussion about how best to use
those kinds of authorities, including the types of authorities
that you see in the most recent executive order, are all, I
think, very robustly coordinated with the rest of the
interagency.
Mr. Brooks. Admiral Hendrickson?
Admiral Hendrickson. We also have--you know, one of ways we
do this is by, at Southern Command, we have an LNO from OFAC
that is embedded into our intelligence side of the house. So we
work quite robustly with the Treasury folks in terms of the
intelligence we have and sharing that with them, particularly
as those packages are developed.
Mr. Brooks. All right.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Mr. Cook. LNO? The acronym, I----
Ms. Fowler. It is a liaison officer.
Mr. Cook. Oh. Okay.
Mrs. Torres?
Mrs. Torres. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to start by associating myself with some of the
comments that have already been stated by my colleagues.
I am from California, and, as a California native, you
would understand--also, as a former mayor--this is, like, the
worst of the worst combinations that you can get here--a former
mayor, former State legislator, I did a lot of work around our
prison system in California. In my district, I have a State
prison, men's prison, women's prison, and a juvenile that has
now been closed.
The Mexican mafia controls--or has great control of our
prison system. They are very active in my home city of Pomona.
They are the cause of a lot of the murders and the increase in
the murder rate.
I want to make sure that we are helping small communities
like this to coordinate efforts to ensure that folks like the
L.A. County Sheriff's Department, the San Bernardino Sheriff's
Department, that are doing a lot of work around human
trafficking have the resources that they need.
And thank you for helping, all of you, for helping to boost
that allocation of funding. But it is not enough. The Mexican
mafia has moved on from simply trafficking weapons and drugs to
now trafficking people.
I wonder if any of you have a comment on that.
Oh, come on, you are Homeland Security now. You are burning
my time.
Mr. Villanueva. Yeah. So, ma'am, we work very close with
our State and local partners. Going back to my early days, as
the chairman mentioned, I was a State trooper, and I worked
with a former U.S. Customs Service task force. And we have that
program all over the Nation to work with our State and local
partners doing the Border Enforcement Security Task Forces.
And those joint interagency teams are deployed all across
the southwest border, southern border, as well as the Canada
border. And it is through those mechanisms that we can support
the small communities to deal with situations like that. We
would be more than happy to follow up through our special agent
in charge in the region to make sure that we are providing
adequate support.
Mrs. Torres. As we speak, there is a press conference on
some FBI activity that occurred very close to where I am, where
my home police department was involved also in this
investigation. So I want to encourage that type of work and
involvement from our Federal agencies to ensure that resources
are given to our communities to deal with these issues.
Ms. Fowler, the first round of the Global Magnitsky
sanctions included several individuals from the Western
Hemisphere. What was the impact of those sanctions? And, going
forward, how will you use Global Magnitsky authority to combat
transnational organized crime within our hemisphere?
Ms. Fowler. Well, Global Magnitsky has been, of course, a
top priority for the Treasury Department and for our Under
Secretary, and we have a robust plan in place to continue to
use that authority to the fullest extent possible.
I can't comment on, you know, potential future actions, but
I can assure you that we have a very active evaluation of
information that we have access to to try to determine how best
to use it, how to use it strategically, how to have the
greatest impact, including in this hemisphere.
Mrs. Torres. As you may know, I have an amendment--and,
hopefully, we will be voting on it later today and pass it--
that would help with a report identifying folks, specifically
targeting elected officials in the Northern Triangle.
Mr. Glenn, the head of the national police in Honduras was
accused of being involved in narcotrafficking. What can you say
about that?
Mr. Glenn. I read the same report, and in our----
Mrs. Torres. This was after cleaning up the police force.
Mr. Glenn. Right. So I read that report. We, through the
Embassy and other groups within the government, have been
unable to corroborate that story. So we continue to work with
him.
Mrs. Torres. So is he currently on duty, or----
Mr. Glenn. I believe so.
Mrs. Torres. Okay.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Cook. Thank you very much.
I just want to--I know I was kind of venting, myself,
earlier. And what I am trying to get at--and I am not sure how
to do it--is, we are looking for solutions here. And I will be
very honest with you. There are so many different organizations
involved, it seems that sometimes we might have one
organization working at cross-purposes.
Do you have--and I don't know--do you have command post
exercises, to use a military term, where you have a scenario--
and we have a number of real diverse scenarios that you could
use, with lessons learned from this, where you go through it,
and you need this, this, this, and this, or you take away--
because, right now, to an outsider, I have this cynicism that
says, because you have so many different countries and so many
different agencies, how are we going to coordinate that?
Do you do these exercises, working together, where you have
a post-exercise report and it is recommended that Congress wake
up and pass this or Congress pay attention to this? And I am
showing my ignorance here, but I am turning to the experts to
see if you could share some of your wisdom with me on that.
The admiral is looking at me like, here is the dumb Marine
question, right?
Admiral Hendrickson. No, I would never say that, Chairman.
So I think that one of the things that we have been doing
for the last couple of years, his has been sponsoring----
Mr. Cook. His?
Admiral Hendrickson. Homeland Security Investigations.
Mr. Cook. Okay.
Admiral Hendrickson [continuing]. Has been sponsoring a
surge operation in Latin America--and it was mentioned in the
opening remarks--Operation Citadel. It is the best case that we
have right now, where we, in partnership with his, have been
supporting them with military capabilities as they surge,
mostly intelligence but also some biometrics, which has yielded
pretty substantial results.
We go through this every year. It is anywhere from a 3- to
6-month surge, depending on the funding available. And, thus
far, we have seen very impressive results.
We do a planning process leading up to that operation. We
do a hot wash and an after-action upon completion. And then we
start planning the next evolution. And we take those lessons
learned and incorporate them in.
You know, thus far, I think, trying to get after the meat
of your question there, that is kind of one of those examples I
can use that has really taken on a pretty substantial traction
over the last several years.
Mr. Cook. Is this classified, your after-action report, or
could that be shared with Congress?
In other words, if we are going to make decisions that are
going to improve the efficiency of the problem we are talking
about, some of these things that you might have learned might
prove beneficial to us.
Admiral Hendrickson. Yes, Chairman, I think we can
certainly share that with you.
And I think the other thing that we--actually, just 2 weeks
ago, we were discussing, you know, how we transition what has
up to this point been a sporadic surge operation, how we
transition that into something that is a steady-state
operation.
Mr. Cook. Thank you.
Anyone else?
Yes, sir.
Mr. Glenn. I would just mention the effort that has been
born out of the executive order on transnational crime. One of
the tasks out of that executive order and now given to the U.S.
CTOC, the Council on Transnational Organized Crime, is to
develop what we hope will be something similar to the National
Counterterrorism Center, where strategic intelligence is
matched with mission management across the interagency. That
does not exist for transnational organized crime right now.
So, in terms of what the future could look like, I think
that is a very encouraging development. It is by no means
finished. It is very much in its early stages of development.
But it is a very positive development. And I would look forward
to, at some point in the future when that is better
established, to be able to share that with you.
Mr. Cook. Mr. Sires?
Mr. Sires. How significant is Hezbollah fundraising in
Latin America from both licit and illicit activities? Can
anybody talk a little bit about that?
Ms. Fowler. It is an excellent question. It is something
that we have been quite concerned about, obviously, for many
years. What we are concerned about is Hezbollah taking
advantage of some of the areas that have more lax regulatory
supervision, sort of, constraints there.
So it is something that we continue to assess. I don't
think I can frame it for you in terms of how much--what
proportion of overall funding. We know what Hezbollah's largest
source of funding is. But we continue to look at this.
And, notably, we are working really closely with the
countries in the region that are most affected, very much in a
very close manner, to try to assess what the risk is and really
work with them to build some capacity to address it and
potentially to take action together.
So that is our approach currently to the issue.
Mr. Sires. Mr. Glenn?
Mr. Glenn. I was just down in the tri-border region a
couple months ago, and we have been able to identify past funds
to--now that Argentina is in a more cooperative posture, we
have been able to give them some assistance in setting up a
border task force around the tri-border area.
I also visited check Paraguay. They are also more willing
to focus some of their efforts to match with our assistance.
And Brazil as well.
So I think we are not there, in terms of a positive story,
but we are getting there, as the three countries, with our
assistance, reengage in the region.
Mr. Sires. I was just going to bring that up, because I was
there last year, and they have a toll booth between the three-
countries border. And I have to tell you, it is easier getting
through there than getting through the Lincoln Tunnel where I
am in New Jersey. I mean, there is nothing to stop them. There
is no checkpoint. People go back and forth.
We talked to the authorities. It is a--I mean, I try to
make light of it, but it is very serious, the fact that we have
these people just going from one to another without any kind of
a check or anything.
I yield.
Mrs. Torres. Thank you once again for doing a second round.
There is never enough time to ask all of our questions.
I can't remember if it was Mr. Glenn or who mentioned the
Vice President's involvement, personal involvement, last year
at the conference in Miami. I think he has done that twice.
Ambassador Nikki Haley also visited the Northern Triangle,
Guatemala specifically, recently.
Today, Secretary Pompeo was here, and I once again asked
about our continued support for CICIG and to ensure that we
continue to be focused on the region. We have spent $2 billion
there. These are hardworking American taxpayers' dollars. We
need to make sure that the trolls and the very corrupt elected
officials that continue to work to undermine the work of CICIG,
the work that we are doing in the region, by hiring lobbying
groups here in the U.S. to lobby against the efforts of
bringing about change and some transparency within the Northern
Triangle--that, you know, we don't lose focus and that we don't
fall to the--and give credit to these folks, specifically from
the Treasury Department, that we continue to look toward people
that ought to be identified publicly for their effort in
continuing to push narcotics north.
Last year, when we were in South America, I was alarmed at
what we saw, the narcotics coming north from still Colombia
through the Pacific Ocean. And I know that we have been
proactive on the Atlantic side. We have good partners with
Costa Rica there, with Haiti. But what is the status of
Mexico's involvement in helping to intercept in the Pacific
side?
Admiral Hendrickson. Yes, ma'am. Mexico is actually quite
involved. We hosted at Southern Command, earlier this year, a
meeting that had the head of the Mexican Navy, the head of the
Colombian Navy, our own Commandant of the Coast Guard, the
Northern Command Commander, and the Southern Command Commander.
And all of that discussion was about the Eastern Pacific and
how we better utilize everyone's assets. We all recognize that
none of us alone has what is sufficient.
And the reality is--and we just finished up an exercise,
actually an operation, that, frankly, was led by the Colombians
and the Mexicans. And what we recognize is the better we can
get at improving the efficiency and trust in our
communications, the more opportunity we have to leverage each
other's strengths. And we all recognize that that is something
necessary.
So I will tell you that that has been--you know, that was
the first time we have had this kind of meeting with those
partners, but everyone is actively engaged. And they
understand, collectively, how big a problem that is.
Mrs. Torres. Thank you.
Mr. Glenn, in Central America, specifically in dealing with
asset forfeiture issues, I know the Salvadoran Government just
passed a law exempting themselves or exempting Members of
Congress from having their assets forfeited. Can you speak to
that? And what are some of our efforts to combat those laws
that they are passing?
In Guatemala, they are trying to exempt themselves from
ever being tried of a crime involving corruption. Honduras'
President is doing the same thing.
Mr. Glenn. Sure. It is troublesome, but at the same time I
think it is an indication of some of the success that we have
had. The fact that these legislatures are attempting to pass
or, in some cases, passing laws to exempt themselves from laws
is an indication that the assistance that we have been
providing--I think CICIG is a very good example of an effective
entity.
CICIG has been roundly criticized, and I think that that is
actually--the criticism runs the full gamut from the socialist,
progressive party criticizing it as an imperialist American
tool, all the way to the other end of kleptocratic, entrenched
families who claim it to be a U.N. conspiracy to establish a
new world order.
To me, as a neutral foreign assistance giver trying to
fight corruption in Central America, I think we are hitting the
spot when we are able to make everybody upset. And threatening
that mode of government, of using corruption and coercion as a
way of government, that is where we want to be. That is what we
want to be doing. Because it ensures fairness for American
companies who try to compete in these countries and ensures
that governments are responsible and responsive to their
people, which should ensure a more secure and more safe Central
America so that people don't feel the necessity to flee to
other countries, to the United States.
Mrs. Torres. Thank you.
And I am way beyond my time, but final words I want to say
is that it also has empowered the young people to come forward
and see themselves as the leaders of those countries, and that
is exactly where we want to see them.
Mr. Cook. Thank you.
They are going to call votes, I believe, very shortly.
Let's see--final remarks. Pursuant to committee rule 7, the
members of the subcommittee will be permitted to submit written
statements to be included in the official hearing record.
Without objection, the hearing record will remain open for
5 business days to allow statements, questions, extraneous
materials for the record, subject to the length limitation in
the rules.
I just want to thank everybody.
By the way, I have gone to NATO when they had exercises
over there. I learned a lot. One of them was going from country
to country, Stryker vehicles that came all the way down from
Poland to Georgia. And they did a great job, everything, from a
military standpoint, but the EU would not let them--you know,
they held them up at the border, because the EU was under
different rules than NATO. And some of those lessons learned,
you know, we brought that up at the NATO Parliament, and you
can kind of make corrections.
So anytime you have suggestion for hearings, what we can
perhaps ask questions about--I think a lot of the members
were--obviously, they had a long day, with trying to catch up
and everything. So I am very, very appreciative of your
patience and for being with us today.
And if you got something going on, if you could let our
committee know. Just what you want to have is a bunch of
Congressmen and Congresswomen looking over your shoulder. But,
really, we are here to learn and maybe make a difference. So,
please, if you have anything, don't be shy about that. And I
think you will see some people that will be down there trying
to learn to make it better.
So thank you very much. There being no further business,
the subcommittee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:56 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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